Theos-Talk Archives (March 2009 Message tt00539)

Thanks, Daniel, for sharing that. I did read it, but such stories are always good to re-read. A response to your HPB postings will come soon. Govert


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: danielhcaldwell 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 10:59 AM
  Subject: Theos-World To Govert: About Mysticism


  Govert,

  I read what you wrote about mysticism, etc. Quite interesting. Below is what I posted not too long ago on Theos-Talk about my first full-blown encounter with the "divine". You may have already read it but in the onslaught of postings, I thought you might have missed it.

  Here is my experience below.

  Sorry if this is covering old ground.

  Daniel
  --------------------------------

  Speaking of my personal experiences, I guess from a fairly early age
  I was not NOT inclined to literally accept the Christian religion as
  most Christians did and still do! Below is my first experience that
  made it obvious at least to me that "religion" deals with a greater
  reality but one need not accept the literalness of the religious
  narratives to know that the "stories" embody great spiritual truths
  and realities.

  In 1956 when I was a young kid I had my first full blown
  encounter with an alternative reality other than the physical.

  My sister took me to see the movie "The Ten Commandments."
  [ http://us.imdb.com/Title?0049833 ] I was not a religious kid at the
  time. I found the movie interesting but not out of the ordinary
  until .... the point in the movie where Moses opens the Red Sea using
  the serpent-staff.

  At that point I had a remarkable inner experience. When Moses
  said: "Behold his mighty hand." I experienced a profound altered
  state of consciousness or what some might call a peak or mystical
  experience. My waking consciousness was suddenly altered and I
  become aware and conscious of a greater reality, a greater
  consciousness, a greater being of which I was a part but this greater
  consciousness encompassed the whole universe. At the same time I
  became aware of a great "force" which welled up in me from the lower
  regions of my body and went up thru my chest and head and continued
  upward to vast regions beyond. My consciousness was embued with great
  bliss and everything appeared in a shining light. It felt to me as
  though the whole universe was flowing thru my being. Later in my
  teens I thought that it was the River Jordan that flowed thru
  me.... :)

  How long this state lasted, I do not know. But even at that early
  age, I knew that the staff of Moses was the means by which one can
  reach God's "mountain" and the "Promised land." I also perceived that
  God's "burning bush" was an immense inner reality.

  Of course, one can probably guess that my all-time favorite movie is
  still The Ten Commandments. Every time I watch it, I automatically
  enter into that greater reality which is represented by God's holy
  mountain and the burning bush.

  This encounter awakened by Moses' staff was my only mystical
  experience until I was in my early teens. I remember in my teens
  thinking that the religious myths of Christianity embodied great
  spiritual realities but the myths themselves need not be taken in a
  literal and physical sense. Some years later when I discovered
  Theosophy what HPB said about myths and religions made perfect sense
  to me based on my own personal experiences. Of course when I started
  studying world religions and mythologies it became even more
  obvious!!

  See the dialogue for some of the relevant parts of the movie THE TEN
  COMMANDMENTS, especially concerning the "mountain" encounter at:

  http://blavatskyarchives.com/hewhohasnoname.htm

  After seeing this movie and having this experience, mountains took
  on a new meaning for me as you might imagine! I've lived in Tucson
  for 36 years and Tucson is more or less surrounded by mountains.

  When I go to the top of Mount Lemmon which is like an hour's drive
  from Tucson:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lemmon

  it is always like a spiritual experience for me. I always enter an
  altered state of consciousness. My consciousness is always
  expanded....



  

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